Youth
by piper maru duchovny
Summary: They were still naive enough to believe that a love like theirs was built to last. - pre-series Peyton/Nathan fluff.


**Never attempted Peyton/Nathan before but I thought I would give it a whirl for one of my favorite people on the planet. This is your standard pre-series fluff and the song referenced at the end is _I Hope This Gets to You_ by The Daylights. **

**Merry Christmas, Rachael! This is for you and your immense love for all things Pathan. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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He opened the unlocked door and stepped into the warmth of the foyer as he shook the snow from his hair, stomping his feet on the welcome mat. A light snow had started in the wee hours of the morning; there was just enough on the ground, barely more than a dusting, to give Tree Hill the white Christmas it rarely saw. He toed off his shoes by the coat rack and followed the sound of punk rock up the stairs to the doorway of her room where he stood for a moment to watch her bounce around while growling out the words to what he thought was Sick Puppies. She was beautiful and, even though they tended to fight more than they made up, he understood in that moment how much he really loved her.

"Hey beautiful," he called to her as the song came to an end. "Merry Christmas."

"Nathan," she breathed his name as an embarrassed blush climbed her neck. She bit her lip and waved him into the room as she lifted the needle from the record. "What are you doing here? I thought you had all that family crap today."

"I skipped out after lunch," Nathan explained. He crossed the room and snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her close to press a kiss to her jaw. "My Uncle Keith left to spend time with the bastard spawn and bastard spawn's mother, dad and grandpa were fighting over basketball while grandma tried to mediate, and my mom was on her fourth glass of wine; no one is going to miss me any time soon."

"I'm sorry," Peyton whispered; she turned in the embrace and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you're here though."

"Me too," he agreed as he dropped a kiss to her mouth. "Where's your dad?"

"Delayed in Atlanta," she explained. Her fingers tucked into the pockets on his jeans as she pulled him back to the bed where they fell together to the mussed blankets. "He won't get home until tomorrow – if we're lucky."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I guess that means you're stuck with me this Christmas."

"Guess so," Peyton agreed. "Now where's my present, mister?"

"Who says I got you a present?"

She smacked his shoulder hard enough to sting and he rolled his eyes but sat up enough to get into his pocket and pull out the small box for her. "Here, oh abusive one, you better like it."

"Nate," Peyton breathed as she opened the jewelry box. Inside was a beautiful silver locket sitting at the end of a chain and she lifted it with a shaking hand, the smile on her face making him grin. "Nathan, this is beautiful."

"You told me that your mom had one just like it," he explained. "She had that photo of you and your dad inside and she was buried with it and you were sad because you'd never get to inherit it but you wanted to find one like it someday."

"You remember that," she asked with a quivering lower lip.

"Of course I do," he told her. "It was that day at the beach when it was raining like crazy and we hid under the pier all afternoon."

She curled a hand around his neck and pulled him down to her for a slow kiss. "How come you can remember that but you can't remember enough math to pass algebra without me?"

"Maybe I can but I like your reward system better," he suggested as his mouth trailed down her neck. "Can I put it on you?"

"Yeah," she whispered. Peyton sat up on her bed and handed him the necklace before lifting her hair so he could secure the locket around her neck. He fastened the clasp and pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck before wrapping his arms around her to pull her into his lap.

"It looks beautiful on you," he told her. "What are you going to put inside?"

"A picture of my parents probably," she told him. Then she leaned over to her night stand and grabbed the photo they had taken a few months ago at their first homecoming dance. "And maybe this one."

"I like that one," Nathan agreed. "You want to know a secret?"

"Is it a good one?"

"Have I ever told you a bad secret," he asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"It's a good secret, Peyton," he promised. His hand shook as he reached out and laced their fingers together, drawing her hand to his mouth to kiss her palm; he'd never said those three words to a girl before, barely even said them to his family. "That was the night I knew I loved you, Peyton Sawyer."

"Really," she asked. "You love me?"

"Of course I do."

Peyton pulled him in for another kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck; she rest her forehead against his once the kiss was over. "I kind of love you, too, Nathan Scott."

"Kind of? Way to bruise a guy's ego, blondie."

She laughed. "Okay, okay. I love you, Nathan Scott."

"Good," he told her. "I love you, too."

Peyton climbed off his lap and raced over to the stack of CDs piled on her dresser; she quickly rifled through them before she found the one she was looking for and lifted it triumphantly in the air. "This just came in yesterday so I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing yet but there's this one song that makes me think of you."

"It's not that 'fuck you' one again," he asked.

"No, moron, it's not _Fuck You_," she promised. "That's only our song when you're acting like an idiot. This one… It's kind of Christmassy and kind of about being in love a little."

"You gonna make me dance, Peyton?"

She nodded and scanned the back of the CD jacket while thumbing the forward button until she found the track she was looking for. A pop beat came out of the speakers and it didn't sound very Peyton Sawyer at all but then the singer began to talk about the search for love and there was something about his tone that made it all make sense. Peyton took his hand and pulled him into the middle of her bedroom before wrapping her arms around his neck to sway to the beat that certainly wasn't meant for slow dancing. "If you can feel my heart jumpin' through my chest, when you look at me it beats three times as fast…"

"Yeah," Nathan whispered into her ear. "That sounds about right."

The song was on repeat and they danced to the words again and again as they rang true. Nathan spun her around like a ballerina and relished the way she collapsed against him with in a fit of giggles before he picked her up and spun her around just to make her dizzy. His foot caught in the mess of clothes that littered her bedroom floor and he fell just to catch her elbow in his chest before they dissolved into a fit of laughter. Her blond curls curtained them as she leaned over him and he sat up just enough to kiss her quickly. "I really do love you, Sawyer."

"Merry Christmas, Nathan."


End file.
